


Mad Swan Appreciation Week 2014

by pyksii



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Mad Swan, mad swan appreciation week, msaw2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 23:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1917645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyksii/pseuds/pyksii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My fics from madswanfest's Mad Swan Appreciation Week, July 2014.  All of these are MadSwan/MadFamily themed.  They're all one-shots and relatively unrelated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seasons

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the characters. I wish I did. Technically, I think the Alice in Wonderland copyright is expired, so I think that they're free game, but I don't own any of the characters presented in this fic. Which should be obvious since this is a fanfiction website. Ba-dum-tss.

Jefferson huffed, glaring at the sky like it had personally offended him. Emma smiled to herself, not slowing the childrens rush to the diner. “Y’know, if you dressed like it was Spring, you wouldn’t be sweating.”

“I like my clothes.”

“I know you do.”

“The weather in the forest never gets like this. If it’s going to rain, it remains a moderate temperature. This worlds weather is unrealistic.”

“I know, this world is horrible and the forest is all sprinkles and rainbows.”

He turned his glare from the sky to her and she cracked up under his stern expression. “Last week was much nicer.”

“You mean when the ice queen tried to freeze us to death?”

“I liked it.”

She snorted, then waved her hand. He huffed when the smoke wrapped around him and then wafted away. The jeans and t-shirt were much more weather-appropriate, but the scarf was still firmly in place. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Now come on. If we don’t get in there, those two will have ordered ice cream instead of lunch.”  
-  
“I wanna get my hair cut.” The words froze Jefferson and he looked up from his music book at Grace. She was looking at Emma’s new Summer cut and the savior seemed oblivious to the problem.

“Are you sure? It’s always been long. It’s pretty.”

“But it’s hot out.”

Jefferson tried to hide his distress and that was when Emma seemed to notice a problem. She looked away from the TV and met his eyes. “I could braid your hair up. It’ll look cute and it’ll still be long when it’s winter.” She offered the alternative, even if it was only a temporary fix, and Grace hurried up the stairs calling out about a hairbrush.

“She’s never wanted a haircut before. I had to hold her down for them when she was younger.”

“It’s just what everyone’s doing right now. It’s normal that she wants to have the same hairstyle as other people. And it is freakishly hot.” He didn’t seem dissuaded from his new low mood, but he hid in his book when Grace came back downstairs.  
-  
Henry was sitting on the half-wall across from the front door, holding a book but watching the yard. Jefferson was pointing out the falling leaves, which currently looked like chunky dry rain with the speed and consistency that they were falling.  
Emma pulled on her jacket and walked outside to stand with them. Jefferson wrapped her in his arms and rested his chin on top of her head. “It’s perfect.” He breathed the words out and she looked out at the leaf storm.  
-  
Emma huddled further into the couch, Grace next to her with her own pile of blankets. Jefferson carried in a tray with two large mugs and a bottle of blue syrup, setting it on the table before he took the thermometers from both girls mouths. “So next time I say it’s going to snow?” He looked at them, pouring the medicine into little plastic cups for each of them. Emma took hers, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I will punch you.”

“Just drink your soup.” He kissed Grace’s forehead, then Emma’s.


	2. Dark/Light

The blessing from Mother Superior had been a surprise, but the bright green dust that led her out of the apartment had her walking through the town. They’d come after dinner to give a blessing to Neal, but the nun had told her that she had never gotten one as a child and sprinkled her with the strange dust that had been around her neck. She’d watched the green trail extend out the window and followed it at their prompting.

She felt ridiculous. It was late, it was cold, and she was following a trail of dust. She hadn’t even grabbed a flashlight. It hooked right past the station and she puffed out a breath and got into the cruiser that was there. No reason to follow on foot. This wasn’t the Enchanted Forest. She had to keep the headlights off to see the trail properly, but it led her down a couple of streets and then onto a driveway. She followed it still, staring at the light guiding her. She slammed on her breaks when she pulled under the front balcony. The green trail led up to the door and there was enough light in the small area that she recognized the house she’d gone to.

The light switched on and she stared at the door, unsure what to do. The door opened and Jefferson looked at her through the vanishing green trail. He ran his hand through it, obviously curious, but he walked down the stairs and around to her side of the car. She rolled her window down, her heart hammering and her stomach heavy with guilt and that feeling she got when she was caught doing something wrong.

“Did they tell you what that was?”

She swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. They said to follow it to...” She glanced up at him, the light blocked by the car leaving him in shadows, and shrugged.

“I’d say we’ve got something to talk about then.”


	3. Mythology

“So what do people in the Enchanted Forest believe? Is there a huge religion?” Emma had never been religious, but it would be helpful to know if there was some big faith that everyone knew about so that she didn’t insult anyone. Now that they were back and near-forcedly living in the castle (The freaking castle. Her room was bigger than the entire apartment in Storybrooke.) Jefferson shrugged, so helpful, and slowed his horse down.

“We believe in magic. The fairies. If you’re a good person, your family will get a blessing from them. If not, you’re on your own. Royals get blessed no matter what they do. Powerful witches and wizards that figure out how to elongate their lives, like Rumpelstiltskin or Ursula, are usually deified, but not in a religious way, just sort of...famous. Infamous.”

“So I’m not missing out on any huge old tradition that will shame my family for a thousand years and make the rivers run red or anything?”

He smirked. “Well, there is one about never wearing clothes the same color as your eyes.” He waited while she glanced at her green cloak, but he started laughing when her face fell and she rolled her eyes at him. “No. There’s nothing like that. I promise, you’re not doing anything wrong. You’re a good princess. And even if you weren’t, everyone knows you were raised in the other wold. You get some leniency.”

“I don’t want leniency. I want to do this right. I know no one expects me to know the history and the customs, but I want to know it. I’m the -- well, the P-word, and I should know this stuff. So tell me.”

Jefferson stared at her, then nodded once. “Well, the Enchanted Forest has been here for thousands and thousands of years...”


	4. Emotions

Emma couldn’t stand it. She was terrified, she was ready to burst into tears any second, and he was perfectly calm. Jefferson was sitting across from her, looking through the menu like it was any other day. She tapped her fingernails on the table again, shifting in her seat and pulling one of her legs under herself, the other tapping against the floor. Jefferson looked at her over the menu and she knew he was smiling behind it.

“You look beautiful.”

“I will punch you.”

He didn’t say anything else, just looked down again. She saw two school uniforms out the window and then the door opened, the bell chiming and signaling Grace and Henry’s entrance. She clenched her fists, feeling cold with the worry of what she had to tell them. They had to tell them. She kicked Jefferson under the table just before the kids sat down. Henry was beside Jefferson and Grace was beside her. She smiled at them and then looked at Jefferson pointedly.

“Children, we have some news.”

“Emma’s pregnant.” Grace said the words, so calm and matter-of-fact, and Emma looked down at her.

“How did you...?”

“Oh come on.” Grace rolled her eyes dramatically. “I’m not a little kid anymore. You’ve been throwing up and you didn’t have any new...girl stuff. In the bathroom.”

“Seriously?” Henry sounded upset and Emma and Jefferson both looked at him. He pulled a wad of small crumpled bills from his pocket and passed them to Grace. The girl laughed and Henry finally looked at Emma and Jefferson. “I thought you were being weird because of the whole three-headed dog thing. This is cool. Is it a boy or girl?”

Emma let out a breath, relieved that both of the kids seemed at least not unhappy about the news. She paused. “What three-headed dog?”


	5. Dreams/Nightmares

Emma woke up with a start and for a moment she didn’t recognize the room she was in. A few deep breaths and a tight grip on her wedding ring slowed her heart and she got out of the fluffy bed and pulled her robe on to go look for her husband. He would either be on the front porch smoking or in the kitchen with tea. Given the weather, she hoped it was a tea night.

She found Jefferson sitting on the counter in the kitchen, leaning out the window with a cigarette in hand. “You okay?”

“I want a new house.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“That’s it? Just okay? You don’t like this one?”

His tone gave her pause, but she got onto the counter opposite from him and shrugged. “It’s nice. But if you don’t like it, or if it’ll help you to move, I’m fine with it. It’s just a house, Jefferson.”

“It’s more than a house. It’s...I was trapped here for twenty-eight years, watching people move and some days...when I wake up from thinking none of this happened, going through the house and everything is the same as it’s been for all of this time...”

She grabbed his free hand and laced her fingers through his. “Was it a bad one?”

He nodded. “I was watching all of you from my hat room and you were happy, and Henry was with Regina, and Grace was with them again. And I tried to leave the house, but everytime I did I would be in a different room and they wouldn’t stop and...”

“Okay.” She scooted closer. “We’ll start looking for a new place tomorrow.”

He leaned his head against hers when she was close enough.


	6. Crossover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't think of anything to crossover with so I did a sort-of-crossover-sort-of-not with this.

“What’s this?” Jefferson sounded amused and Emma spun around from where she was cleaning out the cell she’d had some drunk teenager in the night before. He was standing at her laptop and she hurried over to try to close the screen. He picked it up, spinning away from her and setting it on top of one of the file cabinets. She sighed, giving in.

“It’s Sims. I made our family.” She crossed her arms and waited for the jokes to start, but he was clicking away at the screen. “What are you doing?”

“I’m just looking around. How did you get them to look like us?”

“It’s not that hard.” She watched him go through some basic orders, then he frowned.

“Why is that you getting sick?”

Emma frowned, looking at the screen. “What do you mean?”

“She’s sick.”

“Oh.” Emma looked at the small emotion squares. “Oh, I think she’s pregnant. That’s weird, they haven’t woohooed lately.”

He smiled. “Woohoo?”

“It’s a game for kids, what are they supposed to call it? I’m just not sure when they had time to do that.”

“Wait, what are they doing?”

Emma watched the screen, her jaw falling open. “Oh my god, you’re...Jefferson, that’s the kitchen!” She hit his shoulder. He laughed.

“Where did you get this game?”

“I didn’t want to pay sixty dollars for a game, so I downloaded a free copy, it’s definitely not supposed to do that.”

“Your game Jefferson does have a very good idea though.” He turned that smile on her and she uncrossed her arms, leaning towards him.

“I think he does.”


	7. Domestic

Mornings started at 6AM on weekdays. Emma and Jefferson got up together, got their children awake, dressed, fed, and out the door to the bus by 7:30 and then Emma and Jefferson got ready and left at 8:30. She would drop him off at his shop and then go to the station or on patrol. She and Jefferson had lunch either at the station or at Grannies depending on how much he had to do that day. The clothing shop he’d opened kept him busy and out of the house, which both seemed to suit him just fine. Grace and Henry would do their homework either at his shop or at the station. Everyone would meet up about 5pm to go home and Emma or Jefferson would cook dinner (if they didn’t decide to go meet David, Mary Margaret and Neal at the diner) and they would play a game or read or just watch TV together before bed. Every other week, Henry was with Regina. He still did his homework with Grace, but after that he would hurry to find Regina.

Weekends were slower. Emma and Jefferson slept in, there was quiet in the house, the kids made their own cereal and played downstairs. When Emma and Jefferson woke up, they would find something to do. She played online or just lounged with a book in front of the TV, reading while she watched which never failed to make Jefferson roll his eyes. He would play one of the dozens of instruments he had or work on a small project from the shop that didn’t take much attention. Sunday nights were a rush of meeting everyone at the diner for a family dinner where Grace wouldn’t speak to Regina and Jefferson forced polite conversation, but everyone else got along so the nights were usually a success.

It was calm, it was scheduled, and it felt really good. A deviation from the schedule was rare until David and Mary Margaret wanted to take a honeymoon. Neal came to stay in the March home while his parents were gone and the schedule got a little messed up. He stayed up late, woke up whenever he wanted, and refused to be hungry at any of the agreed meal times. He would curl up his fists and scream his head off and the only thing that calmed him down was the stuffed sheep toy that David had accidentally packed into his own bag. Jefferson had made quick work of a new wooly companion and the little prince had calmed down after that.

It had taken months to get their schedules perfect. It had taken two weeks for Neal to destroy it. And three days after that, Emma and Jefferson were sitting up at the dining table long after Grace and Henry had gone to bed. They weren’t talking, but neither of them had tried yet. “Do you want a baby?” The blurt came out and they both smiled at each other. Schedules were boring.


End file.
